Catamenial sack.



A. L. WESTFALL. I

OATAKENIAL BACK.

APPLIOATHR FILED OUT. 7, 1912. E ELQQJ @& Patented June 16, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A. L. WESTPALL.

GATAMENIAL SACK.

ABPLJQOATIOE TILED OUT. '7, 1912. 1,100,108. Patented June 16, 1914a .[NVENTOR A ltomey ADA L. WESTFALL, OF TAMPA, FLORIDA.

CATAMENIAL SACK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patent-ed June 16, 1914.

Application filed October 7, 1912. Serial No. 724,460.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADA L. VVEs'rrALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tampa, in the county of Hillsboro and State of Florida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Catamenial Sacks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to catamenial sacks and has as its object to provide an article of this class which will be comfortable to wear and which will serve in a highly efiicient manner to collect the flow and prevent soil ing of the clothing. One disadvantage possessed by articles of this class now 1n use is that the sack proper is liable to pucker at the front and rear not only rendering the article uncomfortable to wear but detracting from its efficiency inasmuch as when puckered. it is considerably narrower than if lts forward and rearends were stretched across the back and abdomeru Furthermore, the pu ckering of the sack at its ends is liable to bulge the skirt of the wearer q It is therefore one object of the present 1nvention to provide a catamenial sack and a supporting means therefor so constructed as to at all times hold the front and rear ends of the sack stretched across the abdomen and back respectively.

Another disadvantage possessed by the ordinary sack lies in the fact that the lateral edges thereof are liable to rub and chats the wearer and the present invention therefore has as a further object to provide a sack so constructed that it will conform to the crotch and none of its edge portions will be presented directly against the wearers legs.

It is a further aim of the invention to provide a supporting means for the sack so constructed that the sack. may be readily detached at either its front or rear end and equally as readily connected to the supporting means after a clean pad has been placed therein.

The invention still further aims to pro vide, in connection with the sack, means for holding the pad or cloth in such manner as to prevent slipping of the same. the holding means being furthermore so constructed and arranged that it will properly hold the pad without the use of pins or the like.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the article applied; Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the suspension belt;

Fig. 4: is'a perspective view of the sack proper, in spread out condition; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the sack; Fig. 6 is a side view of the sack illustrating the manner in which the pad is arranged therein; Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the manner in which the attaching eyes are connected to i the sack; Figs. 8 and 9 are perspective views of opposite sides of the belt showing the manner of attaching the hooks thereto.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

In the drawings, the sack is indicated in general by the reference numeral 1 and is formed from a cloth blank which in itsinitial condition is in the form of a sharp pointed ellipse. In forming up the blank the same is folded near each end of. the ellipse as'at 2 and the folded over ends are stitched as at 3 to the upper side of the body of the blank. By so forming up the blank,

its front and rear ends will be of right line extent and it is preferable that the ends be of the'same width so that the sack may be connected to the suspension means without the necessity of determining which is the front and which is the rear end thereof. By

: referrin to Fig. 4 of the drawings it will be observe that the sack is provided at each side with a flap or apron ,4 and the purpose of these aprons will be presently fully explained. k 7 As a means for holding the pad or napkin in place within the sack,'a tape'5 is provided at each end of the sack and these tapes are stitched or otherwise secured at their ends as at 6 at the ends of the respective folds 2, the intermediate portions of the tapes being unconnected to the sack so as to permit of the engagement of the pad or napkin be tween the same and the upper surface of the sack. The pad or napkin is clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings and is indicated by the numeral 7 and, as usual, is in the form of a sheet of cloth folded one or more times along lines parallel to its lateral edges so that the pad will be of considerably greater length than width. Afterhaving been so folded the ends ofthe pad are inserted beneath thetapes 5 and are arranged in overlapped relation as indicated at 8 in Fig. 6. By referring to the said figure it will be observed that the pad as a whole, at its intermediate portion, is of greater thickness than at either end portion and consesurface is presented to the crotch.

portion of the sack, no edges will be presented in position liable to chafe the wearer. As a means for attaching the sack to the suspension device, there are provided eyes which are indicated by the numeral 9 and which are attached to the sack at the ends thereof by means of short tabs 10. One of the eyes 9 is attached to the upper side of the sack at a point immediately inwardly of the point of attachment of the ends of the tape 5 at the respective end of the sack as clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

The suspension device is in the nature of a belt 11 which is of elastic material and is provided at one end with a button 12 and at its other end with a tab 13 having a buttonhole 14: therein. The belt 11 carries books 15 and these hooks are arranged one pair at the front and another pair at the back of the belt. Each of the hooksis provided with the usual attaching eyes 16 through which is engaged a short piece of tape 17 stitched at its ends to the outer side of the belt. Another strip of tape is secured at its ends as at 18 to the outer side of the belt by the same stitches-which secure the ends of the strips 17 and the strip 18 is extended down beside the inner surface of the belt and beneath the lower edge thereof and at its looped or intermediate portion is engaged in the bight of the hook 15.

.From the above it will be seen that the engagement of the tape 18 in the bight of the hook 15 serves to hold the hook against swinging outwardly or being inverted by contact with the clothing which would be liable to release the eye 9 engaged therewith and it will also be apparent that these tapes serve to hold the hooks with which they are engaged against swinging laterally.

In preparing the article for use, the pad l is engaged with the tapes 5 in the manner shown in Fig. 6 and the eyes 9 at one end of the sack are then engaged with the hooks at the rear side of the belt 11. The belt is then applied about the hips in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and is buttoned. After the belt has been applied the eyes 9 at the other end of the sack are engaged with the forward ends of the books 15. The length of the belt 11 is such that it must be stretched in order to apply it about the hips and the hooks at the front and rear sides of the belt are spaced from each other a distance less than the distance between the eyes 9 at either end of the sack 1. As a consequence when the belt'is stretched about the hips, the distance between the hooks upon the belt will be increased and the front and rear ends of the sack will be stretched taut across the abdomen and back of the wearer and will fit snugly to the body. The stretching of the ends of the sack results also in the tapes being stretched taut and in this condition they will have a tendency to bear more or less firmly against the ends of the sack and consequently the folds of the pad will be held straight and against slipping. It will be apparent that due to the peculiar manner of applying the books 15 to the belt 11, accidental disengagement of the eyes 9 from the hooks is prevented for the hooks cannot swing laterally nor can they become inverted by engagement with the underclothing. It will be understood, however, that either end of the sack may be readily disconnected from the belt 11 by slightly pulling the hooks at the respective side of the belt toward each other to allow the ends of the sack to sag, and then either slightly overturning the belt so as to drop the eyes from the hooks or with the fingers disengaging the eyes from the hooks.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A catamenial sack provided at each end with a. pad holding clement comprising a tape attached at its ends to the opposite corners of the sack and free from connection be tween its ends with the sack, and a pad inserted at its end portions beneath the tapes, the ends of the pad being overlapped beneath the intermediate portion thereof.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

Mas. ADA L. VVESTFALL.

Witnesses:

MARGUERITE HARRIS, GERTRUDE M. WISE. 

